Edge coupling is a conventional approach to realize fiber-to-photonic chip coupling since it can work in a broad range of wavelengths and it is compatible with mature package technology for larger photonic chips, such as, for example, silica-on-silicon technology. However, conventional edge coupling contributes to large optical loss (e.g., fiber-to-SOI chip), which significantly affects the efficiency of the photonic chip. This optical loss is often attributed to a large mismatch between the optical fiber and the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguide mode (e.g., 10 microns versus 0.5 microns) and because of optical leakage due to a high index of refraction substrate.